{"71119":{"#nid":"71119","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Bioscience and Engineering Converge","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhen former Georgia Institute of Technology President Wayne Clough broke ground on the first building of Georgia Tech\u0027s new Biotechnology Complex in May 1998, the shovel heralded more than just new brick and glass.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe 800,000 square feet of new buildings in the complex represent the convergence of bioscience and engineering, providing the foundation for a $27 million biomedical engineering research program that is now the second largest university-based program in the United States. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe centerpiece academic department for this research is the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University. Created in 1997, the Department joined the engineering expertise of Georgia Tech with the medical expertise of Emory University. Since then, the Department has grown to include 45 primary faculty members, 175 graduate students and more than 800 undergraduate students. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBeyond research, the Coulter Department has become an innovative center for education with a strong focus on problem-based learning, a student-centered instructional strategy in which students work in small collaborative groups to solve open-ended problems with a faculty member serving as facilitator. In the \u0027America\u0027s Best Colleges 2008\u0027 edition of U. S. News \u0026amp; World Report, the undergraduate program ranked third and the doctoral program ranked second in the biomedical engineering specialty category.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMarking its 10th anniversary this year, the Coulter Department continues to build its interdisciplinary programs to tackle the challenges of the 21st century, including cardiovascular disease, nerve injuries, neurological disorders and cancer. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDetecting Cardiovascular Disease\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EA team of Coulter Department researchers led by John Oshinski, assistant professor in the Coulter Department and Emory\u0027s Division of Radiology, has funding from the National Institutes of Health to use magnetic resonance imaging scans to predict where atherosclerotic plaques will form. Plaques form in artery walls because of cholesterol build-up. When they rupture, they can block blood vessels, leading to heart attack or stroke. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECoulter Department Professor Hanjoong Jo is developing drugs that inhibit the genes that are over-expressed when arteries are exposed to abnormal, nonlinear flow patterns. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECoulter Department Professor Gang Bao leads the Program of Excellence in Nanotechnology at Georgia Tech, which focuses on creating advanced nanotechnologies, such as nanoparticles and quantum dots, to detect and analyze cardiovascular disease. The $11.5 million program funded in April 2005 includes Coulter Department biomedical engineers and Emory University cardiologists and is funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EReconnecting Nerves\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMotor vehicle accidents and surgical procedures can damage peripheral nerves to varying degrees. Coulter Department professor Ravi Bellamkonda has demonstrated that thin polymer films made of aligned nanometer-diameter fibers provide topographical cues to stimulate nerve regeneration without growth-promoting proteins.                                                                                           Unlike peripheral nervous system damage, injury to the central nervous system, such as the brain or spinal cord, is not followed by extensive regeneration because of the hostile growth environment caused in large part by the injury. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo encourage the regeneration of damaged central nervous system neurons, Yadong Wang, a Coulter Department assistant professor, has shown that incorporating neurotransmitters into a biodegradable polymer spurs the growth of neurites, which are projections that form the connections among neurons and between neurons and other cells. This research was supported by the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe Complex Brain\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHow brains learn, or more specifically, how they acquire memories and behaviors, is of interest to Steve Potter, a Coulter Department associate professor. The process of learning is thought to correspond to changes in the relationships between neurons in the brain, but exactly how those changes are expressed at the network level is not well understood. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EXiaoping Hu, a Coulter Department professor and Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar, uses functional magnetic resonance imaging to study drug addiction, elderly brain health and long-term effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on brain development. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EEberhard Voit, a Coulter Department professor and Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar, and Gary Miller, an associate professor in Emory\u0027s Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, aim to better understand how genetic, environmental and pharmacological factors alter how dopamine functions in the brain. To do this, they developed a mathematical model of the dopamine network that allows them to study dopamine in healthy neurotransmission as well as in neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson\u0027s disease and schizophrenia.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EZenda Technologies, a company founded by associate professor Michelle LaPlaca and Emory\u0027s David Wright, aims to commercialize DETECT, a portable device that makes quick neuropsychological assessments. Such assessments could be important in identifying brain disorders such as concussion and early stages of Alzheimer\u0027s disease.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EUnderstanding Cancer Pathways\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMelissa Kemp, a Coulter Department assistant professor and Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Professor, is using systems biology approaches to understand complex cancer pathways involved in drug-resistant acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a type of cancer of the white blood cells. Children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia exhibit a diverse response to chemotherapy, with about one-fourth of them relapsing with drug-resistant disease.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn collaboration with Harry Findley, an associate professor in Emory\u0027s Department of Pediatrics, Kemp is developing individualized computational models to identify key enzymes involved in regulating the protein NF-\u00ce\u00baB, which seems to play a role in drug resistance. This research is funded by Georgia Tech\u0027s Health Systems Institute and the Georgia Cancer Coalition.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Coulter Department also hosts the Nanotechnology Center for Personalized and Predictive Oncology, funded by the National Cancer Institute. Led by Coulter Department Professor Shuming Nie, the center was launched in October 2005 and now boasts six projects and five support teams that focus on developing nanotechnologies for cancer applications. The amount awarded is expected to reach $27 million over a five-year period, which includes $19 million from the National Cancer Institute.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECenter researchers are developing nanoparticles to image cancer inside the body and examine metastasis. They are also developing probes to study gene expression of cancer cells and treat cancer. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022A unique strength of this center is that we have broad faculty expertise from translational bioinformatics to clinical oncology, which will allow us to move some of these technologies into clinical trials in the next two to three years,\u0022 says Nie.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis story was excerpted from a longer article in the Winter\/Spring issue of \u003Ca href=\u0027http:\/\/gtresearchnews.gatech.edu\/reshor\/rh-ws08\/bio-main.html\u0027\u003EResearch Horizons Magazine\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe research projects described in this article that are funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH or NSF.\u003C\/em\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\n\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMedia Relations Contacts: Abby Vogel (404-385-3364); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:avogel@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eavogel@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E Abby Vogel\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Biomedical Engineering Department at Georgia Tech and Emory University Marks 10th Anniversary"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Marking its 10th anniversary this year, the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University continues to build its interdisciplinary programs to tackle the challenges of the 21st century, including cardiovascular disease, nerve injuries, neurological disorders and cancer.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Biomedical Engineering Department Marks\u0027 10th Anniversary"}],"uid":"27206","created_gmt":"2008-07-21 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:19","author":"Abby Vogel Robinson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2008-07-21T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2008-07-21T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71120":{"id":"71120","type":"image","title":"Gang Bao nanoprobes","body":null,"created":"1449177348","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:48","changed":"1475894630","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:50"},"71121":{"id":"71121","type":"image","title":"Steve Potter","body":null,"created":"1449177348","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:48","changed":"1475894630","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:50"},"71122":{"id":"71122","type":"image","title":"Melissa Kemp","body":null,"created":"1449177348","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:48","changed":"1475894630","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:50"}},"media_ids":["71120","71121","71122"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\/","title":"Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering"},{"url":"http:\/\/gtresearchnews.gatech.edu\/reshor\/rh-ws08\/bio-main.html","title":"Full-length Research Horizons magazine article"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"140","name":"Cancer Research"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1457","name":"Alcohol"},{"id":"7272","name":"artery"},{"id":"7270","name":"atherosclerosis"},{"id":"7250","name":"attack"},{"id":"2548","name":"biomedical"},{"id":"1440","name":"blood"},{"id":"1912","name":"brain"},{"id":"385","name":"cancer"},{"id":"7104","name":"cardiovascular"},{"id":"7273","name":"cholesterol"},{"id":"5302","name":"Disease"},{"id":"7269","name":"disorder"},{"id":"516","name":"engineering"},{"id":"2583","name":"heart"},{"id":"987","name":"imaging"},{"id":"7267","name":"injuries"},{"id":"7279","name":"leukemia"},{"id":"7278","name":"lymphoblastic"},{"id":"2053","name":"magnetic"},{"id":"2054","name":"nanoparticle"},{"id":"107","name":"Nanotechnology"},{"id":"7266","name":"nerve"},{"id":"7274","name":"nervous"},{"id":"7268","name":"neurological"},{"id":"7276","name":"neuron"},{"id":"7280","name":"oncology"},{"id":"13471","name":"Parkinson\u0027s"},{"id":"3185","name":"plaque"},{"id":"1492","name":"Polymer"},{"id":"7275","name":"regeneration"},{"id":"7106","name":"resonance"},{"id":"170569","name":"schizophrenia"},{"id":"7271","name":"vessels"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EAbby Robinson\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News and Publications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=avogel6\u0022\u003EContact Abby Robinson\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-385-3364\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["abby@innovate.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}